White House Conference on Aging Issues First in Series of Policy Briefs

10. April 2015 10:50 by Nora Super | 0 Comments

By Nora Super, Executive Director, White House Conference on Aging

Today, the White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) released a policy brief on Healthy Aging, a key focus area for the 2015 Conference.

The Healthy Aging policy brief examines how Americans can enjoy long and healthy lives by maximizing their physical, mental, and social well-being. Research has shown that older adults who take advantage of screenings and other preventive health services; adopt healthy behaviors, and are involved with their family, friends, and communities, are healthier and more independent.

Additional briefs will be released in the coming weeks on other key topics for the Conference, including long-term services and supports, elder justice, and retirement security. If you haven’t yet joined our mailing list, you can sign up, and we’ll notify you when the next one is released.

The briefs define and frame each issue area and reflect the most current evidence-based information on the issues. Each brief concludes with a series of discussion questions, and the general public is invited to comment on our website or can e-mail comments to policy@whaging.gov. The White House Conference on Aging will collect the responses and use them to help shape our ongoing work on the 2015 Conference. Comments will be displayed in the new policy briefs section of our website.

By providing input, you’ll be getting involved in the 2015 Conference in a meaningful and concrete way. The Conference is intended as a national conversation, and we need your voice as part of the discussion. We look forward to hearing from you.

Categories: | Tags: Healthy Aging, Policy Briefs | Permalink

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Generations on Line^® Launches “Sip & Swipe Cafes®”

--Creates groundbreaking tablet technology workshop and tool to narrow the digital divide--

(March 24, 2015) At the American Society on Aging Annual Conference in Chicago today, Generations on Line (GoL), a pioneer in digital literacy for seniors, announced the nationwide launch of Sip & Swipe Cafes®, a first-of-its-kind effort to provide tablet training to the 17 million older Americans who cannot yet use the Internet. 

Developed and tested in 15 Pennsylvania senior centers, Sip & Swipe Cafes® are a series of informal, caffeine-infused workshops that create a fun, low-stress way for older people to learn how to use tablets.  A new App—available through Sip & Swipe Cafes® and to the general public on iTunes under “Generations on Line”—provides the centerpiece of these trainings.

Seniors pay nothing to join the Cafes; centers are charged $150 a year for the software, tech support, coaching curriculum, student tips and skills checklist, and monthly promotional support.

“We are delighted to offer this effective, easy program to seniors nationwide through senior centers, retirement centers, and public libraries,” said GoL CEO and founder Tobey Dichter.  “And for families or friends of computer-naïve elders, the App can transform a thoughtful, but underused gift of an IPad into something that opens the door to a whole range of experiences, resources, and people.”

“Tablets are more fun, require less space, obviate the issues of in–home connectivity, and for most seniors are easier to use -- with the right support,” Ms. Dichter said.  A survey of the pilot sites found that after four hours' or less of training, 91% of Sip & Swipe Cafe® participants reported confidence that they could move forward with using a tablet computer on their own. Of those completely new to tablets, 94% reported a confidence level of 7 or above (on a 10-point scale).

Sip & Swipe Cafes® is available to any facility where seniors gather or live, Ms. Dichter said. It was developed with the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging and Coming of Age. Sip & Swipe Cafes®  is a registered service mark of Generations on Line.

Generations on Line is a national nonprofit organization, winner of the Mind Alert Award for Innovation in older adult learning from the American Society on Aging. Begun in 1999, the organization has helped more than 80,000 seniors overcome access, skill, and intimidation barriers to Internet use.

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For further information see www.generationsonline.org; www.facebook.com/gol2000

Contact: Tobey Dichter tobeydichter@gmail.com; 215 990 7542 (c)  215 922 3244 (d)  215 222 6400 (o)

Emerging home care models for an exploding population

The What's next Boomer Business Summit held last week in Chicago showcased new models to address the needs of boomers as caregivers. We are at a critical juncture where we need trained caregivers, and  access for families to be able to obtain care at reasonable and affordable costs without minimizing quality.
One such organization is Carelinx.com. They have created a model that differs from the traditional home care model that has emerged through  franchised models as well as non-profit sector that typically is a local solution. In order to be cost effective, scale is essential and this is one of the underpinnings to their model of matching caregivers with families at significant savings to the family. Whereas Medicare pays for skilled care at home there is not a similar model for non-skilled care.  Long term care insurance, veterans programs, managed medicaid,and some subsidies are offered by mission driven organizations. Most of   care is out-of-pocket subsidy.
We believe we need to provide more third party reimbursements so that the employed family members are not absent from work ( absenteeism) or at work attempting to navigate care (presenteeism). These are extraordinary costs to employers. We need a dialog with organizations such as CareLinx and ReAct. (www.respectcaregivers.org) and the community to meet this challenge. We need to eliminate the silos and maximize our resources.

New Study Shows Realities of Caregiving Today

 Chicago , March 24 at the ASA national conference, Mass Mutual and Easter Seals released information on a new  study.You never know when you'll be called upon to provide care for a loved one-when the journey will begin. Today , as Americans live longer, more of us are taking on the enormous responsibility of caregiving as much younger ages.In fact, findings from the " Many Faces of Care giving Study" recently released showed one-third of Millennial and GenX survey respondents already identified themselves as caregivers. They need to know they're not alone.

More than 42 million caregivers provide an estimated $ 450 billion in free, unpaid care annually to adults at given point in time.

Boomer Conference -Some Highlights -The Impact of the 65+ Population

Laurie M. Orlov, a  leading industry analyst on technology commented the Aging industry industry is not a cottage industry but a cathedral vision that needs to be addresses. With 46.3 million people being 65+ and 20 million 75+ this a critical universe that has needs and requires solutions. Of the 65+ plus cohort 20% will live to be 90. With the average cost of Assisted Living communities costing $ 51,000 a year we need to look at solutions that will enable living in communities through creative models.

We wanted to share Ms. Orlov's website-www.ageinplacetech.com. 

Aging in America Conference 2015

March 23-27, 2015



Older adults can't wait. The time is NOW to bring the best, most innovative, and effective services and products to America's aging population. 


The Aging in America Conference is THE place to connect with colleagues and leaders from around the nation, learn from world-changing leaders in the field of aging, and grow your skills, knowledge and impact in order to bring better services and products to the aging population.